


Vocally Challenged

by averynicecake



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddles, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Gorillaz - Freeform, Hugs, Karaoke, Other, bad language, literally one swear, purely self-indulgent, weezer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 06:05:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5323337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/averynicecake/pseuds/averynicecake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Skeleton brothers decide to host a karaoke night, but for Frisk, it's not quite satisfactory.<br/>Well.<br/>Not at first, anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vocally Challenged

**Author's Note:**

> Built off the idea my cinnamon roll friend and I made of an Undertale karaoke night.  
> I also put in a headcanon where the skeletons' bone texture depends on their size.

“Goodness...” Toriel muttered as she blinked rapidly to deflect the snowflakes assaulting her eyelashes. She clutched Frisk's hand tightly, though it was mostly for her own benefit. With the child's trusting fingers gripping hers, she felt like she had a purpose.

“This is an awfully long way to come for a party. Do you suppose it's warm inside the home of the young skeletons?”

Frisk shrugged, continuing along the path. Their eyes were squinting against the blizzard, the shorts they usually sported swapped out for a pair of Toriel's old sweats.

A faint glow of lights and the occasional flickering of different colours on the TV confirmed that they were approaching Sans's and Papyrus's house. Drawing closer, Toriel and Frisk could hear the distasteful caterwauling that meant Undyne was inside. While skilled in combat and full of charisma, her singing wasn't quite at the same standard. It was similar to the whining of Napstablook, but somehow less tuneful.

“This appears to be the house,” Toriel mumbled, releasing Frisk's hand and knocking on the door. It swung towards them, leaving about half a second to get out of the way. Sans was leaning against the door, his jacket sleeves rolled halfway up his arms, suggesting he'd been cooking.

“Toriel! Kiddo! Get inside, Undyne's halfway through a duet on her own. It sounds terrible.” He chuckled and hauled them inside, locking up. “I'm in the middle of warming up some food, so grab a seat.”

“Thank you,” Toriel bowed, and settled beside Alphys, who was blushing a little as she tried hard not to cover her ears. Frisk stood up and watched Undyne belting out a song from an obscure rock band, clapping their hands to cheer her on. It clearly had worked, as Undyne began to sing louder, until a note, sure to shatter glass, was screeched, and the song ended. Turning round with a bead of sweat on her forehead, she scooped Frisk up and tossed them into the air, cackling.

“Hey, Frisk! Thanks for the encouragement. Have you got next up?” Responding to their nod, Undyne put Frisk in front of the TV screen and handed them a microphone. “What song are you gonna go for, huh? System Of A Down? Chilli Peppers?” She gave a disgusted look as Frisk stopped on 'Say It Ain't So'. “Weezer? Alright, kid, if that's what you're down for. Well, I don't want to sing that.”

“Who are you partnering with, small human?” Papyrus asked, puffing out his ribs

Frisk rolled up their sleeves and made a somewhat goofy grinning face in imitation.

“Sans, brother, I think they want to sing with you,” he looked rather put out, although he was hiding it. “but, Sans doesn't sing. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer the powerful vocals of, say, the great Papyrus?”

“Nah, bro, take a backseat. I'm in for this round.” Sans sauntered in from the kitchen and stood next to Frisk, picking up the second microphone. “Nice choice, kiddo, I used to be really into this band when I was your age. Whatever age that is. You ready?”

They nodded.

For someone who hardly ever spoke, Frisk had a nice, powerful, soulful voice that rung in the air long after it was heard. They could keep a tune, quite well, at that, and not one word was messy.

Sans, on the other hand, could hardly be described as 'passionate'. He'd stay in tune, but, like everything about him, his words seemed lazy. Half the time he'd be leaning back, humming the tune into the mic to avoid singing. Halfway through the song, he even handed the microphone to Papyrus in order to pull a pizza out of the oven. This caused Frisk a little irritation and they refused to sing quietly for the rest of the song, their voice growing into Undyne's wail.

Once the song ended, they pushed the microphone towards Alphys and, upon it leaving their hand, stormed upstairs. They were incredibly frustrated with Sans's constant lack of effort and this time it had just been too personal. Frisk found it difficult to speak to anybody, and the only people they would talk to on a more regular basis would be Sans, Papyrus and Toriel. Singing was the one vocal demonstration they were confident with, and to have Sans completely disregard that was incredibly painful. Settling into their misery, Frisk crawled into Papyrus's room and snuck into the closet, hugging their knees close to be alone with their malcontent. It was warm in there, and a few t-shirts and sweaters hung from around them. It smelled vaguely salty, like tomato sauce, which was to be expected.

Footsteps began to thud slowly up the stairs, and Frisk squished themselves back into a corner. The only people in the house with footsteps that heavy were Toriel and Sans, and they were desperately hoping it was Toriel.

Hearing a sad sigh and a plate hitting the floor, they realised it was Toriel and scuttled towards the door. Outside of Papyrus's room was a plate of three pizza slices and a heart drizzled in ketchup. Ravenously, they began to wolf the pizza, forgetting that they were on open view to the rest of the house.

“Small human... Are you okay?”

Leaping back in shock, Frisk squinted at Papyrus, scowling at first, but their expression softening into a frown.

“I am sorry about my brother. It seems he is not the most enthusiastic of monsters. I hope your feelings are not hurt. Toriel insisted on bringing you food, I hope it has not gone cold. I can make you spaghetti if it isn't satisfactory.”

Frisk shook their head passionately, making a show of the food being delicious.

Papyrus frowned. “Well, if you want to come back downstairs in a while, we are about to set up a dance game. The first round is between Undyne and myself. Well, I hope I will see you soon, human.” He wrapped his arms around Frisk and pressed them into his thin, rigid bones, before bowing to them and proceeding downstairs.

Grabbing the plate, Frisk hustled back into the closet, but not before they heard Papyrus's anything-but-subtle whisper to his brother.

“Brother. I believe you may have upset the human.”

“Really? I thought they were just mad that I was the best at karaoke.”

“Sans! Be serious!”

“Alright, alright. Yeah, I guess they seemed a little off. I'll go talk to them.”

Hearing the heavy footsteps draw close, Frisk grabbed the plate and barricaded themselves in the closet.

“Hey, kiddo, I can hear you.”

The closet door opened and Sans lowered himself to the floor. “Hey, I'm sorry about not giving it my all. I know you love to sing, and I tried to share it with you, but the thing is... I'm not a singer. I'm a sleeper. A joker. And a damn good cuddler,” he grinned, scooping Frisk into his lap. “The thing is, kid, I'm not very active. I'd like to sing with you, I'm just worried I won't meet your standards. I'm really sorry. C'mere.”

Frisk settled into his soft, spongy bones and lay their arm across his shoulder. Unlike Papyrus, Sans was easier to settle into. Like humans, monsters had a different feel to them depending on their size and shape, and while Papyrus was tall and thin with dense bones, Sans was shorter and chubbier and made for a more soft bone structure. Frisk much preferred his embraces to Papyrus's.

“Your food's getting cold,” Sans noted, before shovelling it into his own mouth. “Mm. That's good. Hey, we should get downstairs now. Toriel's really concerned.”

Frisk made no attempt to move, and Sans chuckled.

“Welp, looks like I'm carrying both of us.”

As he began to carry Frisk down, their eyelids fell heavy. Skeletal hands of sleep gripped them and tore their soul into dark, velvety comfort.

 

Upon waking, the house was silent. No longer nestled into Sans's jacket, Frisk found themselves on his mattress, alone, the treadmill staring them in the eye with its mechanical gleam. A faint musical noise was audible, leading them to wonder how long they'd been asleep. The sky outside was growing brighter, and the music was getting louder. It seemed to be coming from close by, so Frisk quietly exited Sans's room and crawled downstairs, to hear a beautiful, deep, rough and somewhat careful voice singing an obscure Gorillaz song. They went closer, watching curiously.

“Windmill, windmill, for the- _holy fuck_!” Sans dropped the mic and kicked the button on the games console, blue sweat forming on his head. “I, uh. Thought you were sleeping.” He collapsed back into the couch, head in his hands. “Listen, kid. I have a reputation to uphold. Kind of. So, if it's cool with you, can you keep this a secret?”

Frisk smiled devilishly and crawled into his lap, squishing his cheeks together.

“Hey, kiddo, I'm not joking.” He peeled away their hands, interlacing fingers. “Please, Frisk. I'm sorry for not singing with you, I just... Papyrus can't know, you get me?”

Nodding, Frisk dug their nails into bone, making Sans laugh gently and pry away their fingers. They poked him gently, and he looked at them attentively.

“I like your voice lots.”

He smiled in weakness at Frisk's hoarse, quiet voice meeting him again, and kissed their forehead.

“My voice likes you back.”

 


End file.
